Optimizing an aircraft seating arrangement can include both maximizing seating as well as providing passenger comfort and convenience features. A tension between the two naturally exists, since increasing seating density can often result in provision of narrower seats and shorter leg space that can restrict movement and make a passenger feel cramped. Generally, the more spacious and comfortable a seat, the more an airline can charge for the seat, but the fewer the number of seats that can be provided.
A traditional aircraft seat can include a seat base on which a passenger sits and a seatback against which a passenger leans back. The seatback is typically adjustable to move between a generally upright “takeoff and landing position” and a slightly reclined “traveling” position. Aircraft seats are typically arranged side-by-side in rows transverse to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft with the seats facing forward in the direction of travel. The seat rows are typically spaced apart from one another so that in commercial aircraft, seats are usually arranged having a pitch between 27 and 82 inches to provide legroom between the rows. Longitudinal aisles may be provided that divide the seats into sections. For example, the seating arrangement may include two aisles that divide the seating arrangement into a center section and two side sections to provide improved ingress and egress to the rows and access to emergency exits.
To maximize profit, airlines charge higher fares for upgraded or premium seating. For example, a premium seat may be wider, and recline farther, and be arranged to provide more legroom than a standard seat. Some aircraft are divided into different class cabins, with each having a different seating arrangement. For example, an aircraft may have a higher fare “first class” cabin near the front of the plane and a lower fare “coach” class cabin at the rear of the plane. More recently, airlines have introduced “business class” seating, which can provide more comfort than coach class but remain less expensive than first class seating.
Seats that are convertible between a “takeoff and landing” generally upright position to a “lie-flat” sleeping position have been introduced to allow the seats to be used as “beds.” These seats have proven popular on long haul and international flights during which a passenger may desire to sleep aboard the aircraft. While lie-flat seating can provide additional comfort to passengers, and higher revenue to airlines, lie-flat seating occupies additional space, limiting the number of seats that a fuselage can accommodate. For example, when seats are oriented at an angle relative to a vehicle floor, a lie-flat seating arrangement typically has a seat pitch of about 58 to 63 inches, significantly greater than the pitch of coach class seating which generally ranges from 27 to 34 inches. Angled lie-flat seating can place one passenger's head over the feet of the passenger directly behind him or her. Non-angled lie-flat seating typically has a pitch of 76 to 82 inches, and may rely on an alternative arrangement of seats to facilitate efficient utilization of space in the aircraft.
Some attempts to optimize a lie-flat seating arrangement have included angling the seats in a horizontal plane in a “chevron” style in an attempt to increase seating density while providing lie-flat seating. Other attempts have included overlapping portions of the seats vertically, placing a passenger's feet underneath the head of another passenger seated in front of him. For example, an arrangement can include seats that recline at an angle so that the feet of a passenger in a rearward seat extend below the head of a reclined passenger reclined in front. Other arrangements include seats that are placed back-to-back lengthwise, with alternate seats placed substantially above the passageway floor with the remaining seats below the passageway floor, so that the back of the upper seat reclines over the back of the adjacent lower seat.
More recently, a seating arrangement has been proposed that includes a raised seat that overlaps two lower seats when reclined a lie-flat position. By exploiting generally unused vertical space seating density can be increased to maximize passenger capacity while providing fully reclining seating.
While fit for their intended purposes, most prior art arrangements are plagued by several drawbacks and disadvantages. For example, some prior art seating arrangements configure the seat of a first passenger to cover the head of a second passenger, providing a generally undesirable configuration. However, attempts to avoid covering the head of a passenger often result in configurations with pitch distances that fail to achieve desired passenger density levels. In addition, higher density arrangements, even those in which a passenger's head is not covered, may fail to provide the desired degree of privacy to passengers, particularly when the seats are configured in a lie-flat position for a passenger to sleep. While exploiting vertical space may increase the amount of “personal space” in some arrangements, configurations with raised seating can impose additional loads during aircraft take-off, making it more difficult and costly to satisfy federal aviation regulations.